Thursday, 10:12 am

25 decibels ≠ screaming into your cell phone

Move it or lose it.

Wednesday, 10:11 am

This picture shall go captionless, because there are just too many things to be said about it. Interpret at your will.




Tuesday, 4:58 pm

The Science Center's answer to "water fountain."

Now there's one hell of a hydration station.

Tuesday, 3:00 pm

BREAKING: A second elevator is down. There are waits on nearly every floor. Shit's getting real.

Tuesday, 10:33 am

Spotted in the men's room: Making an awful situation worse

— Courtesy of a TFTF correspondent

Monday, 9:29 pm

Genuine crisis: on one of the fullest SciLi nights of the year, elevator #2 has decided to take a mental health day. Whatever happened to teamwork?

Monday, 8:31 pm

We just can't get over how novel a quiet library is, can we?

Monday, 9:49 am

Signs the University should reallocate its heating resources: Every single person in the Frisc is wearing a coat, while TFTF correspondents report that Orwig is "102 degrees." Though said report may be an exaggeration, there is clearly a problem at hand.

Sunday, 2:24 pm

Giving new meaning to the idea of "silent films":

Saturday, 4:47 pm

Who knew the Rock cafe cart was closed on Saturdays? Must we be forced to import our caffeine? Scandal!

Thursday, 3:34 pm

For the past week or so, the Rock has been bumper-to-bumper carrel-to-carrel jam-pack filled. All you had to do was wheel your chair too forcefully and five people would stick their heads into the aisle to admonish you with their eyes.

Today though, with the sun shining brightly, there is barely a soul in sight. We are indeed experiencing the annual phenomenon of SPRING: You know it's here when every student on campus loses sight of academia (blinded by the (sun)light?) and takes to the Main Green.

To the desperate few still toiling away up here, there is consolation: The sun streaming through the tall windows has increased the temperature from frostbite to light sweater level.

Wednesday, 1:09 am

It's officially that final stretch toward break — you've suddenly realized you have two midterms, four papers and several pressing social obligations before the University bell tolls next Friday. And so as the night approaches its darkest hour, studiers pile into the Frisc and on this particular evening, the club is jumpin' jumpin'.

As such, this would be an opportune moment to discuss rules, etiquette and customs of the late-night study bender, or if you are one of the more unfortunate souls, the all-nighter:

— Comfort is key.
DO put on those moccasins and pull on a sweatshirt. In addition to the coziness it will provide, it will also prevent you from suffering the frostbite that plagues all Brown libraries.
DON'T wear high heels and a high-wasted skirt. Yes, girl-who-keeps-making-a-racket-everytime-she-walks, I am talking to you.

— Respect others.
DO remember that we're all in this together.
DON'T shush someone before 2 a.m. You can still go to the stacks.

— Caffeinate.
DO stake out the cafe cart just before closing time. If you ask really nicely, that extra coffee is all yours at the reasonable price of lukewarm, a little grind-y and FREE!
DON'T count on the vending machine. The Diet Cokes have been cleaned out for days.

— Remember that this is still a library
DO feel free to grab a little shut eye on one of the chaise lounges. We're still not sure what they're for otherwise.
DON'T snore. Too many decibels.

— Only the strong survive.
DO stake out a desk and hold onto it tight. Mark your territory.
DON'T assume anyone is here to help you. After 2 a.m., the stapler disappears from circulation, you cannot rent out headphones to block out the snoring, no one will fix the printer for you, and you better hope there's still toilet paper in the bathroom.

Good luck, and good night.

Tuesday, 4:04 pm

Number of people watching YouTube videos > Number of people doing actual work

Tuesday, 2:56 pm

Afternoon studiers are met by the fragrant scent of Kabob and Curry, and tonight features an extra special surprise:
The Science Center welcomes all our loyal patrons to come to the Science Center on Tuesday, March 15th at 6pm for some celebratory cake, followed by the sampling of Tasteberries! Along with this cosmic dessert, we will provide some other treats to help you analyze just how much your taste sensors have been fooled.
All these rewards for the scientists among us makes you start to wonder what you get from a B.A. in anything else.

Monday, 8:04 pm

UPDATE: This was unearthed in Morning Mail archives

Don't have any Pi Day Plans? Want to get more involved with WiSE by mentoring other girls pursuing STEM fields? Then come to the Science Center on Monday, March 14th for candies, goodies and a whole lot more! There will be a WiSE Mentor Information session from 7 to 7:45 PM and then a collaboration with MathWiSE for Pi Day festivities from 7:45 PM to 9 PM. See you there!

…this should be exciting.

Monday, 7:55 pm

In everyone's favorite shrine to science, a massive celebration for pi day is getting underway. All table surface in the great room is covered in various sticky sweet flavors of pie. And who ever said you're not supposed to eat in libraries?

In other Science Center news, it turns out that you have to sign in so they can track usage of the space to subsequently apply for grants … to provide excessive amounts of food.

Sunday, 9:01 pm

In an ironic twist, built perfectly for the SciLi, the beeping noise of the elevator is loudest in the Quiet Center. Though it's probably because the acoustics of the wide open room lend themselves to echo, it would almost make sense if it were intentional.

Friday, 4:39 pm

Two species are native to the Rock steps: rogue squirrels, conformist hipsters

Retrospective: TFTF in Words


Tuesday, 11:50 am

Desperation on the walls of the women's bathroom.

Tuesday, 8:04 am

"Crossover hour" commonly refers to the well-documented time between 9 and 11 pm, when early and late studiers converge, creating a traffic jam of sorts in the basement. There is another, less researched convergence of studiers though that takes place daily, particularly as we head into the height of midterm season: the early a.m. shuffle.

Between 7 and 8 am, the divergence in college student study habits can easily be observed. Still lingering, bleary eyed, are the all-nighters. They can be identified by papers strewn about, stress and sleep in their eyes, and a fierce determination to just get it done. They've been here since late last night, and time is running out. Marching in with a different kind of determination are the early morning anomalies, the ones who forced themselves out of bed with six different alarms in order to start working at the ungodly hour when everyone in their dorm is still sleeping. They can be identified by large, imported coffees (the cafe is out of commission till 8:30 am), copies of the NYT swiped from the security desk and exploding backpacks that say, I mean business.

Guest Thoughts From The Frisc


As a foreign exchange student, I bring to TFTF a whole new perspective. After all, as an outsider, I have nothing to gain or lose from providing a painfully honest opinion about the Frisc. It's not like one of my closest friends blogs about this thing every day. Like I said, nothing to lose.

When entering the Frisc, I am first confronted with a typical academic lobby, complete with stark decor, a kitchen-like snack store (a liberal food outlet for a liberal arts education), and some seating areas. But who cares about this because there is also a security check point. Yes! Guards put on duty specifically to keep people like me out! Fortunately, Emmy has already outfitted me with my own false identification, so I was able to breeze through. Well, I wasn't able to swipe Jessica's I.D. through the first time, but that's mostly because anything that resembles a metro card swipe stresses me out.

Next, Emmy whisks me into a metallic elevator after nearly walking into one of the other elevator's fast-moving doors. THOUGHT #1: If Hermione Granger is to Brown Student, then Frisc Elevators is to Death Eaters. The elevator eventually rises to the 14th floor or something, also known as the highest point in Providence. THOUGHT #2: I imagine the highest student in Providence smokes a joint, and then sits cross-legged on the 14th floor of the Frisc.

After disturbing some of the highest students in Providence, we make our way down to what's called the "Quiet Floor." No, not because the floor absorbs all sounds, and is thus a "quiet" floor, but because you literally are not allowed to speak on this floor. This also means you cannot accidentally have your "Bad Romance" ringtone go off, which is ostensibly tolerated on other floors. Cough, cough.

So after disturbing some of the "Quiet Floor" patrons, we head to Emmy's lair: the basement! On the way there, the elevator door smacks some young gentleman in the face. THOUGHT #3: SRSLY, these elevators will EAT you. We, however, make it to the basement unscathed.

The basement is a sassy mixture of 70s disco decor, lawn chairs, space-age disco decor, girls sitting provocatively, Mac products, snoring students, and more. It goes without saying, but this place is heavenly. While here, we tried out all sorts of study nooks, including the aforementioned lawn chairs, and then a sexy group study room that was really meant for groups of three or more students. THOUGHT #4: Charlie Sheen would totally hog one of these study rooms to himself.

But thoughts #1-4 are really my way of dancing around the main issue: Can I do work in the Frisc? Yes! Yes I can! During the one or two hours I spent in the Frisc, I was able to be pretty damn productive! And that's acknowledging the fact that Emmy and I had to switch locations because the lawn chairs were literally located on the sun. To the Frisc, its patrons, its sassy decor, and the random white guy after whom it was named, way to go! A+

Sunday, 5:01 pm

The SciLi lobby is for group project meetings.
The Rock lobby is for Writing Fellow conferences.

I want no part of either activity.

Friday, 9:35 am

One of life's great mysteries: Why must we sign into the Science Center?

Wednesday, 8:54 am

The Frisc is at its most peaceful before 9 a.m. — sunlight streams in through the zen garden, the chairs are arranged in perfect order, there are barely any people around. There is one thing though: at approximately 8:45, the daily vacuuming begins.